Clement Wood
by George J. Dance Clement Richardson Wood (September 1, 1888 - October 26, 1950) was an American poet and lawyer.Clement Wood (1888-1950), Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poetry, College of Law, University of West Virginia. Web, Aug. 17, 2015. Life Wood was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he attended Taylor's Academy and Birmingham High School. He earned an A.B. from the University of Alabama in 1909, a law degree from Yale University in 1911. He practiced law in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1911 becoming a city attorney in 1912 and a chief magistrate in 1913; but fell afoul of the political establishment, and was removed from the bench for "lack of judicial temperament."Wood, Clement Richardson, 1888-1950, Alabama Authors. Web, Jan. 25, 2017. He left for New York City to pursue a literary career. In New York, he lived in Greenwich Village and supported himself through various jobs, from waiter to secretary to private school teacher. He wrote prolifically, mainly poetry. In 1914 he married poet Mildred Mary Cummer, of Buffalo, New York. Over the course of his career, Wood expanded his writings to include political essays, articles and novels, some of which were published under the pen name Alan Dubois, and many more of which he ghost-wrote for publication under other names. He was hired as a lecturer on the White Star passenger ship line. He also taught correspondence courses and performed as a concert vocalist. He contributed stories to numerous pulp magazines such as Telling Tales, Gangster Stories, Flynn's and Ace-High.Clement Wood, BhamWiki, September 1, 2013. Web, Aug. 18, 2015. For a time he wrote a humour column for the socialist daily the New York Call, where he met Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, who later hired Wood to write for his Haldeman-Julius Publications "firm.Faye Landskov, Author Profile of Clement Wood, Resources for Collectors, HaldemanJulius.org. Web, Aug. 17, 2015. Wood authored more than 70 of Julius' "Little Blue Book" booklets, sold for 25-cents a piece to a mass audience of working class readers. Wood's contributions to the series, some of which dealt with sexual or ribald subjects but also included histories of religion and a still-printed rhyming dictionary, were among the firm's best-sellers. In 1936 he married fellow Little Blue Book author Gloria Goddard. He eventually became dean of the Barnard School for Boys. In 1939-1940 he was an instructor of poetry at Washington Square Writing Center of New York University. He was also a member of and lecturer for the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism.Wood, Clement Richardson, University of Alabama Library. Web. Wood suffered a stroke at home in Delanson, New York and died shortly afterward in a Schenectady hospital. Recognition In 1917 Wood was awarded 1st prize of $250 by the Newark Committee of One Hundred, as part of their Anniversary Celebration, for his poem, "The Smithy of God". In 1919 he was awarded 1 of 3 Lyric Society Prizes, of $500 each, for his poem, "Jehovah".Clement Wood biography, Poetry X. Web, Aug. 17, 2015. His story, "The Coffin," was included in The Best Short Stories of 1922. Publications Poetry *''Glad of Earth. New York: L.J. Gomme, 1917. *The Earth Turns South. New York: Dutton, 1919. *''The Greenwich Village Blues. New York: H. Harrison, 1926. *''The Eagle Sonnets''. New York: Horizon House, 1942. Play *''Jehovah. New York: Dutton, 1920. Novels *Mountain: A novel. New York: Dutton, 1920. *Nigger: A novel. New York: Dutton, 1922. *''Deep River. New York: William Godwin, 1934; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1972. Short fiction *''Flesh, and other stories''. New York: privately published, 1929. Non-fiction *''How to Love''. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#98), 1924. *''History of Rome''. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#126), 192-? *''Julius Caesar: Who he was and what he accomplished''. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#128), 1924. *''Cromwell and His Times''. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#147), 1924. *''History of Rome''. *''Poets of America''. New York: Dutton, 1925. *''Manhood: The facts of life presented to men''. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#91), 1925. *''Amy Lowell. New York: Harold Vinal, 1926. *''A Dictionary of American Slang (with Gloria Goddard). Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#56), 1926. *''The Outline of Man's Knowledge: The story of history, science, literature, art, religion, philosophy. New York: Lewis Copeland, 1927. *King Henry, the Rake: Henry VIII and his women. Boston: Stratford, 1929. *''The Craft of Poetry. New York: Dutton, 1929. *''Hunters of Heaven: The American soul as revealed by its poetry''. New York: Stokes, 1929. *''Clement Wood and His Loves: How a good boy of Methodism turned pagan''. . Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius (#1370), 1929. *''The Woman Who Was Pope: A biography of Pope Joan, 853-855 A.D.. New York: W. Faro, 1931. *''Dreams: Their meaning and practical application. New York: Greenberg, 1931. *''Herbert Clark Hoover: An American tragedy''. New York: M. Swain, 1932. *''Warren Gamaliel Hardin: An American comedy''. New York: W. Faro, 1932. *''The Man Who Killed Kitchener: The life of Fritz Joubert Duquesne''. New York: W. Faro, 1932. *''The Life of a Man: A biography of John R. Brinkley''. Kansas City, KS: Goshorn, 1934. *''A Popular History of the World''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1935. *''The Glory Road: An autobiography''. New York: Poets Press, 1936. *''The Complete Rhyming Dictionary, and Poet's craft book''. New York: Halcyon House, 1936; Garden City, NJ: Doubleday, 1936; **also published as Wood's Unabridged Rhyming Dictionary. Cleveland, OH, & New York: World, 1943; **revised as The Complete Rhyming Dictionary Revised (revised by Ronald C. Bogus). New York: Doubleday, 1990; **also revised as Webster's New World Rhyming Dictionary: Clement Wood's updated (revised by Michael Cunningham). New York: Macmillan, 1999. *''Poets' Handbook''. New York: Greenberg, 1940. *''More Power to Your Words!'' New York: Prentice-Hall, 1940. *''The Complete Book of Games'' (with Gloria Goddard). New York: Halcyon House, 1938; Garden City, NY: Garden City, 1940. *''A Complete History of the United States. Cleveland, OH, & New York: World, 1941. *''Poets' and Songwriters' Guide: The complete book of scansion for writers of poetry, verse, song lyrics and prose. New York: Valiant House, 1948. Juvenile *''Tom Sawyer Grows Up''. Cleveland, OH: World, 1939. Collected editions *''The Glory Road / The Eagle Sonnets''. New York: Greenberg, 1950. Edited *''Negro Songs: An anthology''. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1924. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Clement Wood, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 17, 2015. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *2 poems by Wood: "Coin of the Year," "Berkshires in April" *Clement Wood in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "Spring-piece," "The Link," "Seedtime," "O Dear Brown Lands," "Coin of the Year," "Berkshires in April" ;Books * *Clement Wood at the Online Books Page *Clement Wood at Amazon.com *Wood, Clement Richardson bibliography at Alabama Authors ;About *Biography of Clement Wood at Poetry X *Clement Wood (1888-1950) at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poetry *Clement Wood at BHamWiki *Clement Wood at Alabama Center for the Book *Clement Woood at Prabook *Resources for Collectorsː Author profile of Clement Wood (Biography, bibliography) Category:1888 births Category:1950 deaths Category:People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Category:Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Category:University of Alabama alumni Category:Yale Law School alumni Category:Alabama lawyers Category:20th-century American poets Category:American socialists Category:20th-century poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets